<p>So I took the PSAT my junior year (this year); it was my first PSAT and I scored a 143 (btw the test was about mid October). Then I took the march sat (kind of did better 1620 with hardly any studying) and then I just took the May sat (I got a 1780 but this time I studied alot, like a couple sections of CR and Math a day, and at least 1 full test in one sitting a week; however I only studied like this for about 3-4 weeks). So my question is, if I study all summer and really work on improving my score, how much of an increase do you think would be possible? I'm for sure not going to an ivy league; I plan to attend Cal Poly SLO or a mid to higher range UC (I plan to major in engineering btw, which is alot more competitive). So really my goal would be around a 2100, 1350 M+CR for Cal poly SLO. </p>
<p>So is it possible? And a question to everyone who gets (got) a 2200+ score, what do you recommend in terms of studying habits (like study vocab for 30 min, then do 3 CR sections, then the next move onto Math or writing)?</p>
<p>Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and have a great day.</p>
<p>If you really study a lot during the summer, you can improve your test score; you just need to study in a smart way. For example, for your easiest section (math in my case), do not focus on doing many practice sets, but rather make sure that you score consistently high/get a perfect every time you do a practice set. I tend to find the CR the hardest section, so what I would do is what you suggested in your post - study for vocab every day for 30 minutes and take a bunch of practice CR sections. Good luck in your endeavors!</p>
<p>@fairyfighter Thanks :)</p>
<p>Studying doesn’t help as much as everyone likes to pretend it does.</p>
<p>The best thing you can do to improve your CR + W scores is to read, read, and read some more. Reading is actually the easiest (and most passive) way to improve both of these scores. Now, I’m not talking about reading twitter. You need to read higher level pieces of literature (articles and the like work well). The New Yorker is always a good thing to read, as is the New York Times. It’s a perfect mix of extremely interesting stuff and higher level vocabulary. Just make sure you look up the words you don’t know because, you know, just reading a word and forgetting about it won’t help you very much. Making and keeping good reading habits will help you for the rest of your life (and will increased your vocabulary faster than you would expect).</p>
<p>But, I digress. If you want to do well on math, just learn the basic concepts. Think about how many problems the SAT has to write. Eventually you’ll start to notice that they all branch out from similar types of problems. Just get to know the basic format of questions (look for vertical angles, tangent lines, triangles, and countable angles in figures; learn the “averages” problems they always throw out; &c. &c.) and you’ll start to connect the dots, per se.</p>
<p>In sum:don’t overdo studying, it won’t help (trust me). The best form of studying appears to be to just sit for real exams. Now, don’t get me wrong, you shouldn’t just blow it all off, but don’t get obsessed. There is always something better to do than sitting with a practice book all day.</p>
<p>source: got 2310 with minimal studying (just sat for exams)</p>
<p>Yes you can improve it! I’d say studying does help so get yourself a good SAT prep book and work extra hard this summer. Good luck!</p>